Ingredients.—3 large cucumbers, flour, butter, rather more than ½ pint of good brown gravy. Mode.—Cut the cucumbers lengthwise the size of the dish they are intended to be served in; empty them of the seeds, and put them into boiling water with a little salt, and let them simmer for 5 minutes; then take them out, place them in another stewpan, with the gravy, and let them boil over a brisk fire until the cucumbers are tender. Should these be bitter, add a lump of sugar; carefully dish them, skim the sauce, pour over the cucumbers, and serve. Time.—Altogether, 20 minutes. Average cost, when cheapest, 1d. each. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. Seasonable in June, July, and August; but may be had, forced, from the beginning of March.
CUCUMBERS, Stewed with Onions.
Ingredients.—6 cucumbers, 3 moderate-sized onions, not quite 1 pint of white stock, cayenne and salt to taste, the yolks of 2 eggs, a very little grated nutmeg. Mode.—Pare and slice the cucumbers, take out the seeds, and cut the onions into thin slices; put these both into a stewpan, with the stock, and let them boil for ¼ hour or longer, should the cucumbers be very large. Beat up the yolks of 2 eggs; stir these into the sauce; add the cayenne, salt, and grated nutmeg; bring it to the point of boiling, and serve. Do not allow the sauce to boil, or it will curdle. This is a favourite dish with lamb or mutton chops, rump-steaks, &c. Time.—Altogether, 20 minutes. Average cost, when cheapest, 1d. each. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable in July, August, and September; but may be had, forced, from the beginning of March.
CURRANT DUMPLINGS.
Ingredients.—1 lb. of flour, 6 oz. of suet, ½ lb. of currants, rather more than ½ pint of water. Mode.—Chop the suet finely, mix it with the flour, and add the currants, which should be nicely washed, picked, and dried; mix the whole to a limp paste with the water (if wanted very nice, use milk); divide it into 7 or 8 dumplings; tie them in cloths, and boil for 1¼ hour. They may be boiled without a cloth: they should then be made into round balls, and dropped into boiling water, and should be moved about at first, to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Serve with a cut lemon, cold butter, and sifted sugar. Time.—In a cloth, 1¼ hour; without, ¾ hour. Average cost, 9d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable at any time.
CURRANT FRITTERS.
Ingredients.—½ pint of milk, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 4 eggs, 3 tablespoonfuls of boiled rice, 3 tablespoonfuls of currants, sugar to taste, a very little grated nutmeg, hot lard or clarified dripping. Mode.—Put the milk into a basin with the flour, which should previously be rubbed to a smooth batter with a little cold milk; stir these ingredients together; add the well-whisked eggs, the rice, currants, sugar, and nutmeg. Beat the mixture for a few minutes, and, if not sufficiently thick, add a little more boiled rice; drop it, in small quantities, into a pan of boiling lard or clarified dripping; fry the fritters a nice brown, and, when done, drain them on a piece of blotting-paper, before the fire. Pile them on a white d’oyley, strew over sifted sugar, and serve them very hot. Send a cut lemon to table with them. Time.—From 8 to 10 minutes to fry the fritters. Average cost, 9d. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. Seasonable at any time.
CURRANT JAM, Black.
Ingredients.—To every lb. of fruit, weighed before being stripped from the stalks, allow; ¾ lb. of loaf sugar, 1 gill of water. Mode.—Let the fruit be very ripe, and gathered on a dry day. Strip it from the stalks, and put it into a preserving-pan, with a gill of water to each lb. of fruit; boil these together for 10 minutes; then add the sugar, and boil the jam again for 30 minutes, reckoning from the time when the jam simmers equally all over, or longer, should it not appear to set nicely when a little is poured on to a plate. Keep stirring it to prevent it from burning, carefully remove all the scum, and when done, pour it into pots. Let it cool, cover the top of the jam with oiled paper, and the top of the jars with a piece of tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg: this, when cold, forms a hard stiff cover, and perfectly excludes the air. Great attention must be paid to the stirring of this jam, as it is very liable to burn, on account of the thickness of the juice. Time.—10 minutes to boil the fruit and water; 30 minutes with the sugar, or longer. Average cost, from 6d. to 8d. for a pot capable of holding 1 lb. Sufficient.—Allow from 6 to 7 quarts of currants to make 1 dozen pots of jam, each pot to hold 1 lb. Seasonable.—Make this in July.